The news that CATL, the world’s largest battery manufacturer, is preparing to restart its Jianxiawo lithium mine has sent tremors through the global lithium market, underscoring both China’s dominance of the sector and the fragility of price expectations in a market already beset by oversupply.

While no new permit has yet been issued, the decision to recall front-line workers signals a likely earlier reopening than traders anticipated, raising questions about Beijing’s true intentions as it tries to balance industrial overcapacity against the strategic imperative of securing battery materials.

Japan is preparing to retool how it vets foreign money, shifting from a wide-net screen toward a sharper, risk-based filter that still protects core security interests. The planned overhaul of the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act would be the first major rethink since 2019, when Tokyo slashed the trigger for prior review in sensitive sectors from 10% to 1%.

That emergency brake succeeded in catching more deals but also flooded the system: filings quadrupled, with IT and software alone accounting for over half of cases. Five years on, the finance ministry is signaling a course correction to keep the guardrails, but aim them where they matter most and close the gaps that sophisticated acquirers can exploit.

Chinese battery companies, integral to the electric vehicle (EV) sector’s growth, are employing strategic alliances with U.S. free-trade partners, specifically South Korea and Morocco. This strategic maneuver not only enables them to tap into the surging demand for EVs in the United States but…